Ola Bini, ThoughtWorks

The last few years have seen a large upsurge in the number of alternative languages running on the JVM. Until recently, Java was the only serious language that ran on the Java platform, but this is now quickly changing with languages like Scala, Nice, Pnuts and Groovy being designed for the JVM, and language ports like Kawa, Jython and JRuby gaining headway as fully featured alternative implementations of existing programming languages. Java is shifting to becoming a platform that can support a wide range of languages on the same runtime.

But there is still things missing from the JVM, that would make alternative implementations easier. JSR 292 aims to improve support for implementing dynamic languages on the JVM by adding new functionality to the platform. This functionality does not necessarily have to be used by the Java language. Some things that might be a part of the next generation JVM is dynamic method dispatch, lightweight autonoumous method handles, interface injection, tail call optimization, tuples and many more.

This session will explore what new additions can be expected from JSR 292 and other proposals for JVM improvement, the implementation challenges of adding these features to the existing platform, how they will change the life of language implementers and what impact we can expect on the Java language.

JRuby has gone from being an alternative to MRI, to being the preferred way of working with Ruby in many situations. The perfomance, usability and integration with the Java platform makes JRuby more than just an alternative.

After this talk you will know:

• What JRuby is, and how it's implemented
• What performance optimizations JRuby uses
• Why you might want to use JRuby
• What people are using JRuby for
• What's new in the 1.1 release
• How you can get started with JRuby today
• Some cool things you can do with JRuby